Mano Cornuto fonctionne comme un café et une boulangerie italiens modernes axés sur des ingrédients de haute qualité et des techniques traditionnelles. Le menu se concentre sur des sandwichs à la focaccia artisanale mettant en vedette des viandes fraîches et des produits locaux ainsi qu une sélection de plats de pâtes préparés avec précision. Le service expresso constitue la base de la sélection de boissons, utilisant des grains haut de gamme pour des préparations italiennes classiques. L esthétique intérieure reflète une approche utilitaire avec des éléments industriels, des lignes épurées et une disposition ouverte qui privilégie la fonctionnalité communautaire. La clientèle découvre un environnement culinaire ciblé où la préparation de la pâte et des ingrédients de saison demeure centrale. Cet établissement maintient un engagement envers les recettes authentiques, garantissant que chaque plat démontre une constance rigoureuse dans les saveurs.
Mano Cornuto est largement reconnu comme une destination incontournable pour la cuisine italienne à Montréal, salué pour ses ingrédients frais, ses pâtes faites maison et son atmosphère vibrante. De nombreux visiteurs qualifient leur expérience de magique, soulignant particulièrement la salade César, la burrata à la pistache et les authentiques plats de pâtes. Bien que l'ambiance soit constamment décrite comme animée, accueillante et élégante, les avis sur le service et la taille des portions sont parfois partagés, certains clients notant que le restaurant peut devenir très bruyant et achalandé. Malgré des signalements occasionnels de temps d'attente ou d'un service inégal lors des heures de pointe, la majorité de la clientèle recommande vivement cet établissement pour sa qualité, sa constance et son équipe professionnelle, ce qui en fait une adresse prisée tant par les résidents que par les visiteurs.
We had an incredible meal at Manu Cornuto. To start, the Pistachio Burrata was creamy & absolutely to die for. We also ordered the Caesar salad & the ceviche-both were fresh &'wow' worthy.
For mains, we tried the pesto pasta & the bolognese, but the star of the show was the Cream of Squash & Guanciale pasta. It was outstanding
We finished off the night with the Pistachio Tiramisu, which completely blew my mind. If you are looking for high-quality Italian food at a great price, this spot is a must-visit.
This was going to be my very first ever one star review but the service & service recovery earned it a second star. We had high expectations from google reviews but everything fell apart after the appetizers & our Christmas dinner was sadly ruined.
All three pastas were beyond disappointing. As an aubergine lover, I went straight for the Rigatoni alla Norma ($27) but after the first excited taste then a second suspicious taste, I was immediately certain that I wasn't going to have a third bite. The sauce was bland, basically canned tomato paste, & the cubed aubergine stew was overcooked, uninviting & had a hint of staleness.
We had encouraged our guest of honour to order the day's pasta special - Linguini Carbonara ($27) because well who can spoil carbonara. Sadly, it was ruined. The chef had charred the pancetta to such an incredibly sad state that its bitterness had infused into the oil. Attempting but failing to create a sense of richness, this same bitter, pungent oil was poured over the linguini as its base sauce (with hardly a hint of egg), creating a dish of intensely bitter simply inedible pasta. I looked back to see if it was a mistake arising from a busy kitchen but it wasn't busy so this big mistake was to me not evidently unintentional.
The Fiorentini alla Bolognese ($25) was the best of all three pastas. It was at this juncture that my friend stopped me & said'it's not the best, it's just the least bad of them three'. Enough said. & as the host of this Christmas dinner, my evening came crashing down.
Despite the above, as I had previously mentioned, the service was faultless. Drinks were topped up quickly; the waitress was amiable, efficient & made us feel right at home despite the very loud music. Without our asking, she also apologetically removed two basically untouched pastas from our bill & comp'd our espressos. None of this was her fault so she was ultimately rewarded with a 50% gratuity on a $140 bill.
My final thoughts. Disappointment with a capital D. Prices are high for what this place is but these are all stated on the menu so it's fair game for all. Make sure to ask for prices of the daily specials though as those are not stated anywhere otherwise you may be rudely surprised by the $150 beef special of the day.
If you were to drop by for a simple evening of light drinks & appetizers to share, I would say that Mano Cornuto could be a happy choice as the Caesar Salad ($17), Piatto Antipasto ($17) & Burrata ($20) were delightful. But sadly that's where it ends. The kitchen seems to be good at putting ingredients together (ie. plating appetizers) but anything that requires cooking & true culinary skill, it fails at miserably, well at least for that evening, at our table.
Service is friendly, everyone is nice. It was really refreshing. The food was even better; the pasta well al dente, caesar salad that's actually good, wide selection of drinks. Will be coming back to try the whole menu!
Booked a reservation for 2 at the bar & it was such a vibe! Great wine options, & we absolutely loved the burrata & pesto pasta (those were only the 2 things we tried as we weren't super hungry). Not a ton of options for vegetarians but there are some so it's definitely worth going! I'm still a little confused about how to book an actual table as we seemed to only be able to book the bar, but wasn't an issue for us.
We were a walk-in so I'll go easy on the service because I know how it is for busy employees being handed unplanned tables, but this place left so much to be desired. The pasta itself had an unrefined, simple flavour. I expected something a bit more complex & sophisticated from a place like this. It wasn't bad food, but it could be beat by most Italian restaurants. Food was taken from us before we had a chance to finish our plates. Constant water refills & service went through all the motions but barely listened to us or stayed long enough at the table for us to blurt out we want napkins or how we want the check split. Very rushed, no actual care, just checking boxes. Again I really don't want to blame the servers here because they are probably overwhelmed & just doing what management says in a rush but it's disappointing to pay for food that's just taken right out of your mouth & no time to listen to any of our preferences.
3.7/5 for me. Mano Cornuto is a great place, don't get me wrong. But, I think it was over hyped by social media. I was looking foward to try this place but, it was a bit underwhelming. Pasta was slighty better than most places, but it was missing salt & was not al dente - sauce was okay. The foccacia was good & the drinks were really good. Again, it's a good place to try, specially for a date or a night with coleagues. Service was amazing too. But for the main courses, i was disappointed (specially because i had high expectations). Maybe it was a one time thing.
Even though it's hard to find anything to complain about at Mano, it's still difficult not to compre to how it was when it first opened.
Service is a touch slower & isn't as friendly as it was when the owners were still there hanging out, but it's still pretty good. Though there is clear favouritism amongst their friends who come to hang out & who order bottles. The focaccia isn't as fresh & fluffy & ... big as it used to be. The pasta dishes? Slightly smaller than usual & sometimes undercooked these days.
With all that said...I think the bar is still set really high. You will struggle to find similar overall service & value anywhere else.
